#ooc:text

[downtomyunderoos]

i harbor ambivalence towards mitsuru, and sometimes i actually view her as an antagonist somewhat??? 

i know she Has Reasons for doing what she does, but i’d recall how in the beginning of p3 mitsuru made akihiko fight when he was clearly injured under the pretense that akihiko brought the shadow over, to which akihiko argued (a rare moment !) that he didn’t have a choice; he was chased. and then after that day, she made him not join the fray because of that injury (and rightfully so) and it being hinted that akihiko would be punished otherwise. 

like she is very manipulative and threatens with penalty, and i feel majority of her decisions are towards the integrity of the missions and not so much caring about people. this was yukari’s job to reveal, but i wish in p3 they would explore how ‘shitty’ mitsuru was as a person, but otherwise we’d hear akihiko talk about how his affinity weakness is ice and that it’s mitsuru’s affinity, or like how in p4a they made it clear that akihiko was practically her dog. 

i’d’ve love more moments in p3 where akihiko would try to stand up to mitsuru more regardless of actually coming through. practically saying ‘this happened because it’s your fault’, she behaved like THAT mom.

[downtomyunderoos]

i am here to talk about femc

and why she is good and works in p3p vs mc. spoilers

i think people take hamuko's more 'outgoing'/’bubbly’ exterior as a complete 180 to minato in face value and not realize you can be social and still feel lonely. personally i lowkey can equate this with autism; girls are more likely to mask because they’re more desperate to socialize (but typically find themselves unable to hold onto friendships namely because they’re ‘too weird’ or can’t relate, but i may be digressing).

imo hamuko probably taps into the meta better than minato in one aspect; players take being a protagonist as someone who behaves proactively. naturally you're going to do what the game says and do as much as you want - until you find genuine merit in it, if that makes sense.

minato and tatsuya are very similar because they're both externally cool boys but are actually awkward. they don’t know what to do with themselves, and these are apparent. you see it by how the party and narrative bosses them around. 

hamuko is thrusted into the same situations yet she doesn't have the same personality as the guys. she’s not a princess. she pushes herself. junpei and akihiko in particular notice this - with junpei becoming jealous and in time overcoming preconceptions* and he and akihiko worrying she does things just to be nice - while mitsuru protects her from sexism. in a way hamuko gets fed into continuing doing her best because of the fact she is a girl in addition to having the same traumatic and lonely background. hamuko acts more desperate to the point she would be willing to get into fights outside tartarus. there is more substance with her as to why mitsuru thinks hamuko would make a good leader; like how SEES’ blueprint involved manipulation, in a way not only does mitsuru use hamuko like how she was used by ikutsuki but also mitsuru knows how it's like being in that oppressed role to make it effective.

slight digress, but mitsuru with this also indirectly feeds akihiko’s anxiety even more. i love the idea of akihiko being in the middle and having mixed emotions after picking up on how hamuko is, becoming somewhat resentful of mitsuru while at the same time playing the part as her righthand man. it doesn't help how oblivious akihiko initially was for being in agreement with hamuko being leader despite being a girl due to proving herself. akihiko does not see gender. neither does ryoji and aigis.

( who play some interesting roles, be it aigis imparting ryoji into either protag, and pharos being born and transforming into ryoji in the flesh, but take that as you will. )

however, mitsuru and shinjiro do. if shinjiro was around during the beginning of the game, he and mitsuru would be in opposition. not only that, shinjiro and akihiko suffer from toxic masculinity. they don’t allow themselves to be emotional or intimate to hold up an intimidating, manly image despite being sensitive actually. mitsuru is, unfortunately, so entrenched in a man’s world that she is unable to do anything for either. therefore it makes sense how hamuko is able to have a social link with akihiko and shinjiro and can crack them, considering that minato lowkey plays into a similar image and needs a character like yukari to call him and mitsuru out. 

again, hamuko isn’t a princess; she is capable of rescuing shinjiro, one of the most badass characters in p3 by allowing him to tap into his more traditionally ‘feminine’ side through a completed social link. and instead of giving up on cooking altogether, fuuka with hamuko is able to embrace her strengths and interests, also feeling compelled to do whatever she can to be useful.

*can we talk about how amazing it is how in p3p hamuko can't romance junpei considering originally p3 was directed by hashino, who said he couldn't establish a relationship with a girl in HS, but azusa kido was p3p's director and made junpei realize he viewed girls differently

[downtomyunderoos]

as today is her birthday, i yukari-tweeted and decided to compile my pro-yukari thoughts here! spoilers

- she's proactive, pushes transparency, takes no bullshit. empathetic and emotional. owns up to her shit. she could've pushed mitsuru into the river, but she did her best to reach out to her throughout the game despite circumstances. very flawed and human and amazing.

- yukari is the scariest character to be around because she can emotionally analyze and call you out. see: yukari saying akihiko doesn't care about anything as long as he gets to fight - although they hardly interacted.

- yukari is a foil to MC, mitsuru, and aigis. she's emotional and doesn't try to act cool, but gets pitted against more popular characters and consequently having players find her unlikable.

- the difference between yukari and aigis in the answer can be compared to 'the journey', where aigis, who has never lost anyone, out of fear faltered when it came to ryoji. where yukari lost someone before and was able to move forward in different ways.

in the answer, aigis falls into depression and becomes indecisive during the key arc, whereas yukari, emotional, was resolute in doing whatever she could, fueled by a loss that once gave her her initial strength. belief meant everything to her.

- the difference between yukari and everyone (maybe minus shinji since he leaves) in SEES when it comes to mitsuru is that she is able to stand up to her. she doesn't fear her that she can say what's on her mind and lowkey yearns to make her an equal. she makes her try new things.

- if it weren't for yukari, i wouldn't have liked mitsuru. yukari made mitsuru into a better person. she made her more honest, open, and caring. they have seen each other at their worst, but they remain loyal and prop each other up after all they've gone through (similar to this, if it weren't for femc, i probably wouldn't have liked akihiko).

- i like characters like yukari and natsuki because of how flawed they were at first, driven by their emotions. difference being that yukari doesn't bully, she's assertive. they realize their errors and become stronger people, and they use their strength to empower others.

in the beginning of p3, yukari felt awful for spying on the protagonist. tries connecting with fe/mc by mentioning how they're alike due to losing a family member. her heart was in the right place, yet she apologizes for self-projecting.

yukari apologizes to mitsuru too for confronting her like she did. however, prior to that she had always kept her distance, was suspicious. but she never aimed to like, ruin mitsuru; i believe she wished that mitsuru was just more open, considering the environment.

[downtomyunderoos]

whewww i’m gonna be a little personal here.

hello! it’s been a while. i’m still around. rpc has just been quiet and i’m riding its waves. i’m doing well. i hope you are too.

i just feel like giving a life update is all. man, have you ever found a label that explains Everything? that has recently been me. i’ve been suspecting it for years, but after giving in and doing serious research, being on the spectrum has hit the nail on the head in terms of defining myself. i won’t get too deep into it, but yeah, i feel like i can understand my brain and body so much better on a different level, and i really hope this is something that can guide me in the future the more i learn about it. i’ve been easing into acceptance and feeling great overall due to this sense of understanding and relief. here’s to a happier me!!!

[downtomyunderoos]

unpopular opinion p3 fans would skin me alive for. (spoilers)

it is inevitable that there will be a remaster or a remake eventually.

asghfss however, that’s not the opinion. it’s that i think there should be more than one ending, although i know how much people already hate that players even have the OPTION to save someone.

but i say this not because i care whether or not fe/mc dies, it’s that i... kinda feel nitpicky about aigis’ final speech. the reason being is that she self-projects during a moment where the game is giving you closure, where aigis figures out what she wants to do only for it to immediately backfire when the game ends, hence the answer.

the final moment of p3 is an emotional one, don’t get me wrong. it’s amazing. but i don’t completely agree with her saying “sometimes, all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of.” i know she is giving you an example, but i realized what p3 understandably hardly touches on is individuality and is only done so through chidori (drawing helps her feel alive) and akihiko (boxing makes him feel like an individual without needing to turn to a cult).

i think what would make the multiple endings work is making fe/mc less passive, where dialogue options make more of an impact. i know how difficult that would be for a large-scale game like p3, so i can see something like this being more major in aigis’ social link. think life is strange, where you have to make choices that’ll affect aigis and how she will decide to live, hence affecting how the player will turn out by the end.

like you have a character like akihiko who realizes during p3 that he’s been basing his life around people who aren’t part of his life anymore and that he needs to make decisions for himself to move forward. vs you have aigis and yukari who get the short end of the stick by the end of the game because they depend on fe/mc so much rather than a healthy support system.

[downtomyunderoos]

like this post if, in general, you don’t mind me writing you a starter or coming into your inbox from out of the blue in the possible future!!

[downtomyunderoos]

multi-muse drop!

[downtomyunderoos]

i've been replaying p3p, and junpei has been standing out to me considering people in general don't talk about him. i want to point out things i've observed

he is very thoughtful and generous towards femc.

he makes seemingly distasteful comments, some which sound sexist, but i don't think he actually was being so. this plays off yukari’s, and even a little bit off mitsuru’s, flaws in particular since she sees the worst in men.

he only starts to get creepy around the fuuka arc. it's. really bad seeing him make a sexual harassment joke in front of 3 girls, without having met fuuka yet.

he really likes coffee enough to be somewhat knowledgable about it.

this is something i've never forgotten, but i want to bring up how he has a guitar in his room.

when junpei gets upset, he starts yelling in his room. on one hand that's funny, but in reality that's concerning. it just reminds me of how his dad probably was asdsfdfdh

he is also very supportive of femc despite being jealous. he wants to be The Man but at the same time he knows he's not dependable enough, so he's got this paradox going especially between his reactions towards picked dialogue and story dialogue.

junpei's difference in reaction towards fuuka and chidori is interesting in the sense originally there was the assumption fuuka would be helpless, so junpei took that as an opportunity to be the 'man' he wants to be. everything he does in order to stand out and be successful, which always blows up in his face, is all performative. whereas chidori was sudden and met under realistic circumstances, and that junpei was able to have real talks with her.

so junpei kinda has a hop from pokemon’s story where he wants to be a particular person but couldn't meet the standards of his peers until the chidori scenario makes him realize what matters most to him and what he's actually good at. so by ultimax he revisits his love for baseball and finds himself in the position to guide those he is capable of helping: children.